


Notice

by spindleofwords



Series: Big Windup, Big Revelations, Big Relationships [1]
Category: Ookiku Furikabutte
Genre: I just don't want to put alllll of their names, M/M, The entire rest of the team is also here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-09
Updated: 2013-01-09
Packaged: 2017-11-24 05:57:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 16
Words: 19,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/631192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spindleofwords/pseuds/spindleofwords
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mihashi and Abe have never been very good at reading each other; Mihashi misunderstands everybody, and Abe is the world's most proficient at lying to himself. But when they both start to notice each other, everyone else can see it too. </p>
<p>Maybe this isn't as hard as they think it'll be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Abe Takaya, Catcher

He wouldn't admit it to anyone else, partly because it took him so long to cross the Nile on his little leaky raft, partly because he was still floating on that same river just a little closer to the opposite shore. But Abe Takaya, catcher, had a definite habit of watching his pitcher (yes, his pitcher, it wasn't strange, not at all) while he was pitching. Mihashi Ren, number one ace of Nishiura High, was a nervous, awkward, lanky, bumbling boy off the mound but on the mound?

Mihashi became someone, something else on the mound, something graceful. Abe would watch as he gave the flaky boy directions and the boy followed them perfectly, every single time. That in and of itself amazed Abe. But the way Mihashi pitched, it was like an art form; and Abe found himself watching it unfold in front of him instead of keeping his attentions elsewhere. He knew how it started, how it ended. Abe could probably describe it in time to the pitches themselves, right to the tee. 

First came the little nod, as if Mihashi was double checking his directions in his head. Then, a straightening of the spine and Abe's favorite part (yes, his favorite part; if it was an art form, he had a favorite part like a favorite line in a song) which was, naturally, the wind-up. Mihashi would tuck in close, knee up, gathering momentum and energy to throw the ball (at those times, Abe could swear that he could feel own energy being tapped, could feel the air rippling with suppressed raw power) and then Mihashi would lean back, step down, and bring his arm up and over in a beautiful curve and before Abe knew it the ball would smack into his mitt.

But this was the disturbing part; Abe had always been able to track his pitchers' balls once they were pitched. Yet for the past couple months he would find himself still staring at the sight of Mihashi standing after his windup, find his eyes trailing the sweat that beads and slides down the other boy's neck, find his attention on Mihashi's heaving chest and nervous grins. Even as Mihashi catches the ball that Abe has somehow thrown back to him (though the catcher would have no recollection of doing so), Abe would find his sight on back on Mihashi, watching the boy turn and reset the clay on the mound, watching how the sweat from Mihashi's hard work slicks his hair to his neck.

And at first, Abe tried to deny it to himself. Exactly why would he be studying his pitcher on the mound? Answer: no reason at all. Then, he told himself he was watching so carefully only to reassure Mihashi. After all, the boy was notorious for having self-esteem issues, and it could only get better if he believed he's wanted. When that excuse didn't work, the catcher flailed a bit before finally deciding to acknowledge but not do anything about whatever it is and not talk about it.

Hard to do when Tajima was asking with that grin on his face.

Abe snapped out of his thought processes, starting as he realized that he had been staring at Mihashi, who hadn't noticed and in fact was busy being taught dugout cheers. The dark haired catcher flinched again as Tajima elbowed him in the side, and grinned, "Yo Abe, I asked whatcha were doing staring at Mihashi like that?"

Abe stared the cleanup hitter, and said coolly, "Just trying to judge if he can go a couple extra innings. It doesn't look like the tie is going to be broken anytime soon."

Despite being flustered, Abe thought his response was pretty well played; apparently Tajima agreed because he turned away with a nod and refocused on the game, commenting absentmindedly.

"I wouldn't worry too much; he looks like he can still go strong if we need him to."

Abe turned away and let out a sigh of relief, failing to notice Tajima still had that grin on his face.

The next week at practice Abe realized his…preoccupation with Mihashi had reached a new high when he suddenly fell back into a sitting position, his arm throbbing. He was still in mild shock when he felt warm hands undo his helmet buckle swiftly despite the trembling.

"Abe! Abe, are you okay? I-I never m-meant to hit you, I t-thought you s-saw it coming…"

Abe looked up into teary eyes and blinked, slowly coming back to senses. Mihashi saw his eyes come unglazed and sat back on his knees, crying and sniffling. Abe couldn't resist a soft grin and ruffled Mihashi's hair, trying to be comforting.

"Look, I'm fine, see?"

Mihashi wailed and hung his head lower, his eyes hidden but the tears perfectly visible.

"B-but you fell, and the b-ball, it h-hit you…"

Abe shook his head firmly and lifted his sleeve, displaying his arm.

"I'm telling you, I'm fine! Look!"

Mihashi peeked and started to sob in earnest, lowering his head onto his hands, his chest on his knees.

"I-I'm the w-worst p-pitcher ever!"

It wasn't true of course, but Abe did have quite a nice-sized bruise near his elbow which was already turning a deep black blue. Abe winced as he ran his fingers lightly over the bruise. No wonder Mihashi had flipped; it looked a lot worse than it felt. The sound of mumbling from the pitcher on the ground in front of him made him look up; the boy was whispering something indecipherable. Abe studied his trembling form; he could tell the boy was trying to blame himself. The raven haired boy sighed and forced Mihashi to look at him, gripping the pitcher's chin firmly but not with excess force.

"You listen to me. Do you remember what I said about the worst pitcher ever?"

Mihashi only nodded and closed his eyes as he started to cry again; it had stopped for a second in shock when the older boy had grabbed him. Abe ran his thumb over Mihashi's cheek to wipe away tears and told him, "Look at me."

The brunette opened his eyes half lidded, but they widened in shock as Abe got closer to him so they were almost nose to nose.

"If you remember, don't forget. You could never be as bad as Haruna; you're too good."

When Abe looked at him expectantly, Mihashi flushed and nodded as much as Abe's hand would permit.

"Ah….um…hai."

Abe nodded briskly and put his helmet back on, releasing Mihashi and settling back into position. The pitcher looked at him from his sitting position and Abe quirked an eyebrow at him, looking at the bullpen's mound.

"Come on. We've got a game coming up soon; we need to work on your full strength pitch."

Mihashi got up with a smile, ecstatic that his amazing catcher didn't hate him and still wanted him.

Abe sat down with a quickening heart rate; the two had been so close to each other, their noses nearly touching, and looking into the brown eyes of his pitcher had admittedly done some strange things to both his mind and body. Shaking his head to clear it, Abe couldn't help but feel like he was missing something else in all his acknowledgment.


	2. Cleanup Tajima and Captain Hanai

Hanai sat on the railings of the dugout, his feet digging into the clay. He watched the infield and outfield go over their drills, occasionally shouting to people to fix their stances, to throw with more power, or to throw properly with their whole bodies. Tajima leaned over the rail, his hands dangling down to touch the dirt and his hat on backwards, a cheeky grin on his childish face as he turned towards the taller boy.

"Oi, Hanai."

Hanai ignored him; he was too tired to battle words and spaz outs with Tajima today. Not to be deterred, Tajima put his feet on the lower railing, stood, and started to poke Hanai repeatedly, calling his name in a singsong chant. Still, Hanai was able to stick to his guns and pointedly ignore the interruption until the smaller teen wrapped his arms around Hanai's neck, laughing.

"Hanai!"

The captain immediately turned his head to look at the younger boy on his back. He was apparently standing on the low rail still, and he was tapping a beat against Hanai's collarbone with one hand, his eyes full of laughter.

"W-What are you doing, Tajima?"

Instead of answering the question, Tajima stuck out his tongue and grinned, "You're blushing, Captain."

"S-Shut up and get off of me, Tajima, before I make Coach bench you, understand?"

Tajima squeezed a little tighter and pulled at Hanai's cheek, trying to make him smile. Whining, he said, "No, please! I only wanted to ask you something but you were ignoring me and I promise I only wanted to ask a question, strictly!"

Hanai rolled his eyes in mock annoyance at Tajima's use of strictly.

"Fine. What do you want?"

Tajima sobered up quickly; looking at the pitcher's mound he asked, "Have you watched Mihashi and Abe together lately?"

"What are you talking about, Tajima?"

In truth Hanai had been too tired to captain properly, let alone pay individual teammates any spare thought. Exams were wearing hard on him this semester due to advanced classes he was in. Still, he peered at the two pitching and throwing together on the field.

"What about them?"

Tajima sighed in annoyance, and knocked at Hanai's shaved head, pushing him forward. Hanai turned to complain, but Tajima only put his hand over his mouth and turned his attention back to the team's battery.

"Hanai, look! Don't you see anything? Anything at all?"

At that moment, Abe pushed up his mask and jogged over to mound. Mihashi cowered a little until Abe smiled wide at him and put a hand on his hat, pushing down the brim. Mihashi laughed and blushed. Abe came over and rotated Mihashi's shoulder, putting one hand on his waist and the other on the top muscle of his shoulder, describing how to do a certain pitch at full speed. Mihashi nodded his consent and then stretched out his shoulders with a slight wince. The catcher looked at him, concerned, and started to rub at the boy's shoulders. Mihashi blushed and stared at the ground as Abe lectured him on pitch count. Nothing too out of the ordinary; everyone was used to babying Mihashi, and everyone was used to Mihashi not paying attention to his pitch count. But the way Abe was handling Mihashi….gently, softly…

Hanai turned to Tajima bright red, shocked. If this meant what he thought it meant…

"You mean?"

Tajima nodded, an evil smile gracing his face.

"Exactly."

Hanai looked at Tajima helplessly, his eyes wide with shock and his mouth open. Was Abe really… Hanai really would never have pinned the catcher as that type of a guy….but then, he was willing to bet that Abe himself hadn't thought of himself like that either. Did Abe even realize?

And then, looking thoughtfully at his captain, Tajima mused, "That's the way you treat me when I can't bat right, Captain."

The captain in question scowled, pushing Tajima off him and onto a bench in the dugout, still blushing but now angry as well. He might be a little gentle when dealing with Tajima, but that was only because…because, well, the younger boy was like a child who knew how to hit really, really well. That was the only reason.

"You don't know anything, Tajima," said Hanai with a glare as he walked away.

Tajima smiled and settled comfortably in the dugout, propping his feet up on the opposite bench and taking a swig of water.

"I think I know quite a lot."


	3. Coach Momoe, juicer

"Hai, everybody! Good work today! You all worked really hard today; I know we'll win our next game!"

A great cheer went up as Captain Hanai finished saying his piece for the day. The team quieted as Coach Momoe stood and walked over to them, tossing her long hair back from her shoulders with a clap.

"Okay, team. You all worked hard today, and tonight I want you all to practice your mediation, alright? Relax yourselves before the game next week. Sleep well!"

The team bowed to the coach and headed to the dugout, chattering animatedly. The coach watched them file into the dugout. She wholeheartedly approved of how close the team was becoming to each other. It was clear now, even to outsiders, that they were a team and a close knit one, at that. As the boys packed up amidst the laughter and jokes floating on the air, the team's battery caught Momoe's eye. 

Mihashi was sitting on the bench, stretching out his glove and laughing with Hanai at Tajima's faces as he ate hot ongiri. Abe was sitting with a smile to Mihashi's left, one arm stretched out on the bench behind Mihashi, one hand curled slightly and rubbing slow circles with his knuckles into Mihashi's pitching shoulder, who was leaning into the touch. That wasn't so odd; Mihashi had been throwing over his pitch count lately, wanting to practice hard for the game against Musashino-Daiichi. No, what was off was the way Abe's smile was so relaxed and…happy.

Coach Momoe couldn't help snickering at the catcher who obviously thought he was being so inconspicuous with his little infatuation. She could see it clearly once she had an inkling of his crush. As Tajima and Hanai left together, the dark haired boy jumping on Hanai's shoulders with a yelp, busting out in laughter as Hanai turned to yell at him with a deep blush, she called out to Abe, who started and sat straight up, taking his arm away from Mihashi almost guiltily. For his part, Mihashi looked almost disappointed as Abe stood and made his way to the railing.

"Abe! Come here for a minute, will you?"

"Hai."

Abe walked over with his usual stride, but his face was flushed and his eyes hidden beneath his hat. As he stopped in front of Momoe, he kept his eyes trained on the ground and his voice polite.

"Yes, ma'am?"

Laughing, Coach Momoe lifted his hat brim and peeked underneath, leaning forward.

"Takaya, when I told you to take care of your pitcher, this isn't exactly what I meant. Nevertheless…"

Abe looked up with a frightened look, jerking back.

"What exactly do you think is going on, Coach?"

With a smile Momoe crushed Abe against her in a bear hug, swinging him back and forth as her voice reached a fangirl squeal.

"Why obviously you two seem to be together, and I can't say I'm unhappy with it!"

Abe managed to choke out, "But Coach…we aren't…together…"

She set him down and gave him a look of disbelief, then turned him to look at his pitcher, who jumped in fright and then tentatively waved, holding up Abe's packed bag. She waved back with a huge smile, then turned him back to her and studied the blush on his face. Pointing at his cheeks, she told him, "If that doesn't say you're together or soon will be I don't know what does."

To his credit, he managed not to yell in denial or do some other equally stupid thing; instead he just stood there, his eyes in blue shadow, flustered beyond saying something coherent. Coach Momoe sighed and closed her eyes, a hand coming up to rub the bridge of her nose.

"Look, since you're kind of stuck for words, may I say something personal to you?"

Abe could only nod but immediately regretted it after the fact when the coach's eyes gleamed red and she pulled at his cheeks angrily, her voice taking on an eerie quality.  
"If you hurt him in any way, I'll come and break you. Don't think I won't. You couldn't be harder than an orange."

Abe had a sudden, disturbing vision of her sweetly offering him some juice while he was tied up next to a metal bat. He sputtered, "Y-Yes ma'am!"

She nodded, back to her intense and caring self once again.

"Good. Glad you understand. Run along now; your pitcher is waiting for you."

As the catcher jogged back to his companion, Momoe debated how to tell Shiga and the rest of the team, because surely they could see it too; and if they couldn't, they needed to be told, because really? It was plain as daylight, and she lamented that she hadn't seen it sooner. And after those two…she was going after Hanai and Tajima.


	4. Haruna, the world's worst pitcher

The bunt was slightly unexpected but was handled easily; well, it was supposed to be handled easily. The ball literally tapped the bat, due to Mihashi's pitches being so slow, and the ball landed halfway between the batter's box and the pitcher's mound. But here's where the problem arose, since normally Abe would be on his feet and running the second the ball touched the bat; he would tear off his mask in a desperate gesture and search for the bunt.

But Abe was slow in reaction this time around, even though the team had done this drill countless times before. The dark haired catcher took a second too long to register the hit, then another second to get off his mask and another extra second to locate the ball. 

He was halfway standing when Mihashi picked it up and heaved it at first, getting an out. Unfortunately, Abe's slow reaction meant that the runner who was previously on first made it to second amidst calls and shouts from his teammates. Picking his mask back up from the dust, Abe settled back into his catcher's position with a slight flush to his face; he knew the real reason why he was late picking up on the bunt, thanks to a certain sandy haired pitcher. In the dugout, Tajima snickered and was whapped with a clipboard for grinning for the other team.

Abe shook his head to clear it as the next batter up was substituted and a new batter came up to the waiting area to stretch. How could he have been so stupid as to have missed that bunt? It was easy pickings, he should know; that ball was always his in practice, every single time. But Abe reluctantly admitted to himself that he had been watching Mihashi react and only realized his own immobility as Mihashi moved forward to pick up the ball. It was just…the way Mihashi was suddenly full of confidence in his movements as he threw or picked off a ball baffled Abe in the most amazing way. He found it beautiful, that change, and it never failed to capture his attention wholly.

Mihashi glanced over his shoulder nervously to check on the runner, his hat brim tilted up with a hand so that he could see properly as the brunette runner with glasses nodded firmly and quickly at the third base coach's instructions. The way the sun and shadows played over Mihashi's face and shoulders distracted Abe so much that he never noticed the next batter coming to the box until he was already there and he was glancing up at a blindingly bright familiar grin and an even more disturbingly familiar voice.

"Hey, Takaya."

Abe scowled at Haruna, choosing instead to keep his eyes completely focused on the pitcher. Haruna snickered and set up his stance, squaring off. Abe took another quick look, saw that his former pitcher was expecting a breaking ball, and gave Mihashi his directions: upper left, curveball, outside to inside.

Mihashi nodded once, and threw the pitch perfectly. Haruna went to swing at it, realized too late what it was, tried to pull back and tapped it as it rolled under his bat. The ball landed under Abe, rolling behind him. A chorus of voices filled the field in panic, jolting Abe from his trance.

"Don't let him get to third!"

"Catch him!"

"Abe, over here! Throw three!"

The only reason his mitt hadn't immediately adjusted to the tap of the bat was because he was, well,…watching Mihashi. So the catcher was forced to take emergency action, diving behind him with one arm outstretched in a way that would have been painful if his adrenaline hadn't of been running high, gripping the ball barely but tightly; twisting the trunk of his body to get leverage enough for a throw to third. When Abe resurfaced from his quick turnover, he saw that the runner was still on second. Of course, said runner was also wiping himself off after belly sliding back to second, but he was still at second and not at third, which was all that mattered.

Abe felt the smirk radiated in vibes from above him as Haruna glanced down, but he refused to give the arrogant pitcher the satisfaction of looking at him, instead rolling his shoulder with an inward wince. However, Haruna had his own plan; he was going to talk to Takaya if it killed him. Calling a timeout to retie his shoe, Haruna dropped his bat and fell to one knee next to Abe, whispering, "So Takaya, can't take your eyes off your pitcher, huh?"

Abe glared at the boy next to him pretending to be busy with his shoe.

"Shut up, Haruna. You don't know how this works."

Haruna grinned and winked, covering it up by readjusting his hat, his voice a low laugh.

"Looks to me I know exactly how this works. I'm jealous; you never used to look at me like that."

Abe faced him full on, bending on one knee to get close to the older boy, not caring if the ump saw them talking. He needed to say this to Haruna so the other boy would understand.

"You never deserved it the way he does."

Haruna held up his hands with a shrug as if to say, I'll leave it alone, and to show he was done with his shoe. Repositioning himself, he sighed, "I'm happy for you, Takaya," praying the catcher wouldn't hear him as he leaned in for the next pitch.


	5. Cheer Captain Hamada and Centerfielder Izumi

The entire team turned to look at the growling catcher who was chasing his pitcher around the field. Shino'oka, Sakeguchi, and Suyama stopped their work of breaking in the gloves in the dugout. Hanai, Oki, and Tajima stopped in mid swing, and Mizutani stopped his fly ball practice with Nishihiro. Even Hamada and Izumi stopped their bickering in the center field long enough to take notice.

"Oi, Mihashi! Come over here and let me see!"

Mihashi gasped and ran faster, arms flailing as he fled from the angry catcher. Even though he was breathing a little hard he still managed to yell over his shoulder, "I-I'm fine! Really! N-Nothing to worry about!"

Abe growled and with a leap tackled Mihashi to the ground, sending plumes of red dust everywhere. The sandy haired pitcher looked up into glaring chocolate eyes; he blinked in confusion before he realized Abe was pinning him to the ground.

"Mihashi, let me see your hand!"

The boy in question gasped and cradled the hand within the other, shaking his head uncertainly, squirming to get free.

"N-No, Abe, it's fine, I p-promise."

Another growl and Abe grabbed Mihashi's hand from him, inspecting it. Mihashi whimpered, his head turned away and tears welling in his eyes. Coach Momoe approached cautiously, not wanting to upset the catcher anymore than he already was.

"Abe?"

The boy turned to look at her, his dark eyes serious, holding up Mihashi's hand.

"Look what he _did._ "

The boy's hand had a large cut on the inside of his middle finger, from the tip to the second knuckle, and it was a bright angry red, inflamed and probably tender to touch. And yet Abe did just that, exhaling softly in despair as he ran a single finger down the cut and pulled back with a drop of blood. Coach Momoe stopped the rest of the team as they vaulted over the railings of dugouts and jogged over to the battery, eyes narrowed with worry. Helplessly, Abe whispered, "What did you do, Mihashi?"

Mihashi turned to look at Abe quickly; his blue eyes opened wide at the feel of tears falling softly down onto his hand from the other boy. He glanced between his hand and a teary Abe and his brain short circuited a little.

"W-Wha?"

Abe let go of Mihashi and slammed his fist into the ground next the pitcher's side.

"I'm asking you what you did to your hand, Ren! Dammit!"

Mihashi looked at the pitcher for a moment in astonishment, and then leaned forward to embrace him. Abe looked at Mihashi in surprise as the pitcher pulled away, but he only took Abe's hand in his own and propped himself up on his elbow, saying shakily, "I'm fine. It doesn't hurt. My mom helped me clean it last night; I was helping make the soup and I cut myself by accident, but it's not deep and it doesn't hurt anymore. So you don't have to worry, okay?"

Abe nodded incredulously at Mihashi, who smiled and rubbed Abe's hand.

"At least you have a lot of alpha waves now."

Abe sighed and got up, tunneling a hand through his hair as he extended one to Mihashi, who took it happily. With a sound of relief Coach Momoe came over and studied Mihashi's hand for herself. Once she saw taking the finger through its full range of motion could be done without hurting Mihashi, she clapped loudly and bellowed, "Okay! Back to work, everybody!"

Turning back to the battery and taking note of Abe's red face, she led them to the bullpen to talk.

"Okay guys. So. Abe: your reaction? Understandable, but a little bit overreactive. Mihashi? That should have a bandage on it. I'm sure I don't need to tell you to make sure it doesn't happen again. If it does, Abe, please try to restrain yourself until after practice."

Abe looked at her a little wild-eyed.

"Coach, you don't understand, when I caught the ball and saw blood on it…"

"What, you're bleeding, Mihashi?"

The pitcher cocked in his head to the side in puzzlement before checking his finger.

"Y-Yes, I am. I'm s-sorry Abe, I d-didn't mean to scare you. It m-must have b-been the forkball."

"Then tell me you can't throw the forkball before I call it, moron!"

Abe whapped the pitcher over the head before crossing his arms like a petulant child and turning away to glare at the fence. Mihashi was upset before he realized Abe wasn't mad. He was only worried. Abe exhaled forcefully and looked back at Coach, who was standing there looking like she was watching an amusing entertainment show. The catcher blinked incredulously as she winked at him and then laughed at his confused face.

"Abe, as his catcher, you should take care of him; and you know what they say helps cuts on your fingers, right?"

Abe's eyes widened and he snarled at her, yelling at her retreating back.

"Not funny!"

She laughed again as she walked away.

"He won't know, and it can't hurt anyway! Try it!"

Abe paused for a second, considering that fact, and then sighed and held out his hand.

"Gimme your hand, Mihashi."

"Why?"

"Just do it."

Izumi and Hamada tumbled over to the edge of the field near the bullpen, ignoring cries of protest from Nishihiro and Mizutani, fighting yet again.

"Why you little- I oughta wipe that grin off your face for you!"

Izumi laughed smugly.

"You wished you could, Hamada. You only wish! You're so pathetic—"

Hamada shouted in pain as Izumi yanked on his arm, and then managed to twist Izumi's arm into an excruciating position, holding him against the fence. Izumi's brunette hair whipped in the air, his hat somewhere between center field and left, his head whirled to face Hamada with an accusatory glare.

"Ger'off me."

Izumi found his voice slightly muffled by the left side of his head and neck bring pressed into the metal fence as Hamada held his right shoulder up and out, twisting the wrist forcefully.

"Shut up and listen to me. When I say I don't want to play, I don't want to. So don't force me—"

"But y'do!"

Hamada glared and pressed the shoulder harder.

"I told you to shut up; do you ever listen to me? Look, I don't want to relearn how to catch or throw, or bat, and if I did it wouldn't be from you."

The pain was starting to get to Izumi; he realized he really had pushed Hamada over the edge this time, and was suddenly reminded of how much bigger the blond was.

"Ah…hah…okay. M'sorry."

Hamada released Izumi with a gasp and then pressed in close, staring at something on the other side of the fence and paying no attention to the shorter, younger male now crushed between him and the fence.

"What…what is that? What are they doing?"

Izumi looked where Hamada indicated and received a shock; by the catcher's plate in the bullpen sat Mihashi and Abe, which was normal, but…Abe had his mouth around Mihashi's finger, licking it.

"Wh…Why are they….What are they doing?"

"I know, that's why I said it!"

They both shut up as Mihashi laughed when Abe took his mouth from Mihashi's cut with a lick up the side, producing a gasp from the two watching.

"Abe, that tickled."

Abe shrugged like nothing happened and put his face mask back on, pretending he wasn't blushing.

"Yeah well…Coach Momoe reminded me that people say when your finger is cut, it helps it heal to lick it."

Mihashi thought about this for a second and then beamed.

"I've heard my mom say that too, sometimes…"

Abe pushed at Mihashi and pointed at the dugout, reminding him to go and bandage the cut. Hamada looked down at Izumi, who looked up at him, and they both turned back to stare at Abe, who had looked over at first with embarrassment and then with a smirk. Hamada muttered, "Why is he staring at us like that?"

Izumi sighed and turned to face Hamada, who realized how close they were for the first time.

"You are a little close, Hamada."

"I—oh. Izumi…"

The blonde blinked and Izumi took note of how his eyes, half-lidded, glazed over just a little as he leaned down just a fraction of an inch closer, and admittedly Izumi could feel his own heartbeat start to speed up, and his own hands near his side also gripped the fence, afraid that he reached out to touch the moment would be lost.

He could have sworn they were…somewhere, maybe at his house, or at Hamada's? Or were they still at the field? He couldn't tell anymore; he was drowning in Hamada's look, and he felt himself gasping for air. But then broad tan hands on either side of his head gripped the fence painfully tight for a half second before they let go and the blonde walked away, looking confused.

Izumi could have sworn that the older boy looked like he was trying to restrain himself from doing something. 

The center fielder looked back and saw Abe still watching him, arms folded and mask pushed off. As the brunet looked over, Abe smiled smugly and went into the dugout. Sitting down by the fence, Izumi sighed and tilted his head back against the metal, closing his eyes. He had been feeling like this for a while, and while Izumi didn't know whether to accept it or reject himself, he was trying to put everything into helping Hamada back into the game he so clearly loved. But the older boy kept walking away from him, and their fights. He was so close…the centerfielder sighed and put his glove over his eyes, holding it up to cover his face. Figures the one time he apologized Hamada didn't notice.

In the dugout, Hamada sat and drank his water fast, downing it in one go and crumpling the cup. Putting his head in his hands, he realized that Izumi was only trying to help despite how much the blond pushed him away, and he cursed the underclassman for being so persistent. Izumi had even apologized.

Hamada was trying so hard not to like this kid, for all the good it was actually doing him. Whatever had happened out there proved that his strategy of pushing him away was not working for him, not at all.


	6. The Mothers

Mrs. Mihashi stuck her head into the sunny bedroom, smiling brightly. The raven haired boy sitting at the desk looked up at her briefly, sharing a small smile before placing a hand in sandy hair and shoving it back down to focus on the homework laid out on the desk.

"Hey boys, you need any food up here?"

Tajima looked up from the foot of the bed, head hanging down and looking at her upside down.

"Hey, can you bring us some more cur—"

Hanai, seated on the floor next to Tajima so that the cleanup's head came suspiciously close to his shoulder, clapped a hand over his mouth while writing, never looking up.  
"Thanks for offering Mrs. Mihashi, but we're fine up here."

"Um…a-are you quite sure?"

Muffled protests came from the batter, but the large hand stayed firm, the fingers tightening.

"We're sure, Mrs. Mihashi."

She chuckled a little nervously and addressed the other two, secretly happy to see her son becoming so close to such a nice group of boys.

"Abe? Ren? Do you two need anything?"

Ren looked like he was about to speak but held his tongue at a look from Abe, who glanced at the still full bowl of grapes and back at the pitcher. Turning around, he signaled no to his mom, who smiled and nodded.

"Okay then! Keep working hard, boys. I'll be up with more curry in an hour or two, since it's almost time for dinner."

As she left Tajima jumped off the bed with a hoot, shouting, "YES! CURRY!" and was quickly brought down to earth as Hanai's hand wrapped around his ankle and yanked him down to sit next to the captain, who put him in a one arm choke and said, "You don't make the grades, you don't play on the team. You don't wanna play with us anymore?"  
Tajima's attitude slammed on the brakes and revolved 180 degrees. The cleanup sat up ramrod straight with teary eyes, clutching Hanai's shirt in his hands, trembling.  
"No, I wanna play, I do!"

Hanai nodded and ruffled the cleanup's hair, placing a book in Tajima's lap.

"Then let's study hard so you can earn that curry."

"Okay!"

Tajima started to read and leaned against Hanai's shoulder, humming a nonsense song under his breath and pretending not to notice Hanai blushing happily next to him. Abe sat forward and helped Mihashi with some calculations, speaking in low relaxed tones. It was the only way to teach the flaky pitcher, as he had found from an earlier experience with algebra in which Mihashi had started crying after getting the right answer and then wanting to quadruple check it to make sure it was actually right.

Downstairs, the mothers of Hanai and Tajima were seated on the couch, drinking tea, while Mihashi's mom fixed more in the kitchen. Calling from the other room, she complimented Mrs. Hanai.

"Really, that Hanai of yours is really such a wonderful boy and a leader as well!"

Hanai's mother nodded and beamed.

"He's even become better at home now that Coach has talked to him. But tell me, how is Ren doing?"

Mihashi's mother came in with a smile on her face, setting down the tray full of tea cookies surrounding a little blue and white teapot. Pouring the other two women cups of tea before she sat with her own, she sighed a little and said, "I'm not so sure. He always seems to be so…preoccupied lately."

Tajima and Hanai's mothers exchanged knowing looks, and the both reached to clasp her hand in one of theirs. Smiling gently, Hanai's mother told her, "We've noticed and, well, we want to tell you…it's probably because he's found someone."

"W-what!"

The sandy haired woman looked at the other two team mothers with great surprise, pressing her hands to her heart. Weakly, she asked, "Wouldn't he have least introduced me first?"

The two exchanged looks again, and faced her once more. This time, it was Tajima's mother who spoke.

"I'm sure he already has. They're here, right now."

The pitcher's mother rose off the couch, eyes searching frantically.

"Where? Where is she? Is it that Shino'oka? She's nice but….but!"

The other two drew her down softly onto the couch, and one patted her thigh while the other clasped her hand once more and the both of them murmured, "There, there. Nothing to be alarmed about, love."

Mihashi's mom felt her eyes filled with tears, and she zoned out, thinking of all the things that could happen that might've happened, that already happened…

"B-But…but…we talked about this. If he ever started to date I was to meet the girl first and then we would go from there. I d-don't understand."

Tajima's mom rubbed her back as she cried and said matter-of-factly, "It's no she that your Mihashi has fallen for."

The back she had been rubbing straightened as solid as a rod as the mother faced her in disbelief.

"What are you saying?"

Tajima's mother spoke up, taking both of Mihashi's mother's hands in hers and looking her straight in the eye.

"We think your boy might fancy Takaya."

She fell back into the couch in shock, the air whooshing out of her in one big exhale. The thought was slightly upsetting, but as she went over the pair in her mind she was suddenly struck with the way her and her husband had acted before he had asked her out.

"He…H-he…well. At least…at the very least he's not dating behind my back. Fancying someone is perfectly fine. But how do you know…?"

Tajima and Hanai's mother exchanged that knowing look once again as they prepared to speak, and by now Mihashi's mom thought she knew what it was.

"Your boys…they like each other, don't they?"

With a fond smile, Tajima's mother leaned in and confirmed her theory as the two of them began to talk.

"You see, it started with Yuichiro, who came in one day and asked me what to do to find out if someone liked him, and I told him to try to be with that person all the time as a good friend and he made the most adorable pout and said he already did that…"

"Meanwhile, Azusa is coming and complaining how the little cleanup hitter is always around him and how annoying he found it all, in denial of course…

"And so I told Yui to come up with a way to test if that person likes him, maybe hug them and gauge their reaction, and the next thing I know the next day he comes running in beaming, asking me to guess what he did that day at practice and he tells me…"

"He just came over and pounced on poor Azusa, who came home very distressed and extremely flushed, grumbling about stupid cleanups and their stupid smiles and their observance…"

"And I was starting to recognize the signs and I didn't want to meddle but I thought I should call up Hanai's mother just in case she disliked this option for her son…"

"And I get this call and I tell her of course, I'm fine with it, my boy should be happy; so now we know and they don't know we do. In fact, I'm sure everyone sees it except for Hanai, because he's never considered being captain of a different team, I think."

Mihashi's mother took a minute to process all the information being thrown her way and then said slowly, "And you think Mihashi also plays on this…other team? And Abe is his team mate?"

The two raven haired mothers nodded firmly.

"Yes. That's exactly what we believe. Why don't you go and tell them dinner will be ready in a couple minutes, and watch them together? You'll see it much easier now, I expect."

With a surreal nod, Mihashi's mother moved off the couch and headed back up the stairs, knocking lightly on the door before opening it. Tajima lay with his stomach on Hanai's legs, which were stretched out in front of him. Both were reading intently, Tajima absently playing with Hanai's shoelaces and Hanai's fingers tapping a beat on his leg, close to Tajima's stomach. Inwardly she giggled at the two of them and then turned her attention her son.

Abe was sitting close to him, his arm draped loosely over the back of the chair. As Mihashi turned to say something she noticed how close their heads were together, and how Mihashi was leaning slightly against Abe, and as they smiled at each other and when Abe gently tapped a finger to Ren's forehead, she saw it, sudden and with great clarity, and all she could do was wonder why she hadn't seen it before.

Oh, and weren't they just precious together?


	7. The Rest Of the Team

The team filed into the dugout at Mr. Shiga took the battery on a hike through the woods in back of the field, glad to be given a rest. As they lounged on the benches, hot and tired, Coach Momoe came up and clapped her hands once to get attention.

"Listen up, guys. Here's the thing. Raise your hand if you've noticed our battery's…closeness?"

Tajima raised both hands, a rice ball in his mouth, while Hanai guiltily raised his, as did Izumi and Hamada. The rest shot her confused looks. Sakaeguchi gulped loudly and said, "What are you talking about, coach? They're supposed to be close, right?"

She nodded.

"Exactly so, but…they are much more than that."

Looking at Tajima, Hanai, Izumi, and Hamada, she gestured to the front of the dugout and smiled, "Anyone wanna explain?"

Tajima had raced up there before anyone could blink, and as he perched himself on the railings, everyone exchanged looks of confusion. What was going on here? The battery was supposed to be close; their team had a strong core battery and by virtue they were a strong team. So what exactly was coach asking? Unless, she meant…Tajima beamed at everyone and stood on the railing, his feet spread wide and his hand pointing into the air.

"Abe and Mihashi like each other!"

"What?"

As the rest of the team who didn't know looked at the other three for confirmation, all of them slowly nodded their heads, embarrassed. Coach Momoe put on foot on the bench and leaned forward, her eyes sparkling.

"Very good, Tajima. Now, listen up guys, we're going to need to help them al—"

"Hold up! Wait a second, just wait," said Mizutani, crossing his hands in a T for timeout. "Now, what you're saying is…Abe and Mihashi have, what, like, crushes on each other? And because Mihashi is…Mihashi, and Abe is so stubborn, we have to help them get together? Is that what you're saying right now?"

Mizutani looked around wildly as the coach shook her head yes.

"Did anyone else see this? Am I the only one who missed this?"

Suyama came over and patted Mizutani on the back soothingly as the rest of the team nodded thoughtfully. Sakaeguchi, for one, was grinning hugely, collecting money from Oki and Nishihiro.

"I told you it'd be them first, Oki; you should listen to me more often, huh?"

Oki shook his head, face palming, while Nishihiro grumbled over the loss and ran a hand through his hair, giving Oki a glare, muttering, "I can't believe I agreed with you."

Oki whined plaintively, "It's just, they're always all over each other (well, he's always all over him, but that's not new), so I was sure it would've been them first."

Coach quirked an eyebrow at the exchange of money (and Sakaeguchi's grin) and asked, " Not Abe and Mihashi? So who?"

The three fielders looked away in embarrassment.

"Um, ah, no one, Coach."

She smiled and then looked over at Tajima and Hanai, who was currently trying to get said batter off of him, then nodded.

"I'd agree with you, Oki, if I hadn't seen Abe and Mihashi get so close in such a short period of time."

She laughed at his disgruntled expression and surveyed her dugout's reactions.

Mizutani was still sitting a corner of the dugout, distraught at how obvious it was and how he could have missed it, and Suyama was sitting next to him, explaining how when you thought about it right, it was perfectly clear. Shino'oka was in a fan girl induced shock, and could only sit there with her hat clutched in her hands and her eyes glazed, giggling. 

Oki and Nishihiro were debating with Sakaeguchi, and Tajima and Hanai were…being themselves, but when Coach looked to see how Izumi and Hamada were taking the news,   
she found nothing. They were nowhere to be found. Momoe was baffled until she thought about it and then wondered how she had missed that one, too. No matter.

"Okay guys, listen up. We need to…to…Shino'oka? Yes?"

The girl had raised her hand and was now grinning innocently, even though her words were not so innocuous.

"I have an idea…"

At her tone, all of the boys shuddered, and Momoe laughed inwardly, thinking, fear the power of the fangirl, boys. Fear her.


	8. Mihashi, the World's Most Oblivious Pitcher

Mihashi wasn't the type of person too into the idea of romance. His life was sleep, food, and baseball (plus some school at Abe's insistence). But even though he didn't usually think about the other things, Abe made him think about wanting a relationship, a romance, made him want…more. When Abe touched his hand, Mihashi never wanted to let go; when Abe smiled at him, Mihashi wanted it to be because of him; and when Abe looked at him determinedly and gave him a sign, all Mihashi wanted to do was follow him, place his pitch straight in Abe's mitt just because Abe was the one who asked for it and Mihashi would give anything to make his catcher happy, anything he could.

Mihashi didn't see it at first, when he started acting different around Abe-kun. But when he started to look forward to practice because of Abe and not because of baseball, he figured it out; that what he felt was more than the strong will to be great for his team. It was a will to be great for Abe, and just for Abe. Nothing mattered unless it was Abe who was smiling, who was saying good job…and it didn't start out that way. True, he liked his teammates, and he liked getting praise from them, but when he got praise from Abe it was on a whole other level. It made him feel fluttery and excited; Abe made him feel fluttery and excited. He soon figured out that it was because he liked being Abe's pitcher; he belonged completely to the raven haired boy.

As their bond got stronger, Mihashi began to feel guilty when Abe touched him. The pitcher was sure that the other boy was only being friendly but…he couldn't help that his body thought of it differently. Each touch sent thrills through him, and then, later, the thrills turned into some kind of sweet burn that lay sleeping under his skin until the catcher laid hands on him, which seemed to be happening more and more often.

Now, when Mihashi winced, Abe was right there with warm hands rubbing slow circles into his shoulders. And even when they were on break, Abe was there lecturing and massaging his shoulders (Mihashi knew that the catcher only yelled at him because he was worried. As bad as it sounded, that kind of made Mihashi happy, because it meant that Abe cared what happened to him); and Mihashi convinced himself that the light touch was all he needed. At least, until Abe started doing things to drive him crazy; when the catcher tackled him, Mihashi felt his heart race, and when Abe closed his mouth over Mihashi's finger the pitcher felt the burn came to life all over and burn low in his belly, causing him to shudder.

Sighing, Mihashi gave up thinking about Abe for the fifth time in the past couple minutes and tried to focus on practicing his pitching, but it was no good. No matter how hard he tried to focus on throwing the ball into one the nine sections, he would see Abe in his mind's eye and there he'd go, off in la-la land for the next minute or two, until he came back to earth and the routine started again. Readjusting his hat, the pitcher went inside and got out some lemonade when his mother called from downstairs, "Your friends are here at the door, sweetheart!"

Mihashi immediately ran for the entrance. Even though it was a day off from practice in celebration for a win they'd had worked for, maybe he'd still get to see Abe…but when he rounded the corner he only saw Shino'oka.

"Oh. Shino'oka, hi."

She smiled bright and sunny at him, just like always. She was so nice, all the time…Abe was nice, too…

"Mihashi?"

The pitcher snapped out of his swaying thoughts and focused on her, eyes wide, mouth a diamond.

"Oh. Uh, yeah?"

She laughed and pulled him along, telling him, "I asked your mom if we could go to the field. That okay with you? The team is off today but I think a bunch of them are meeting up to hang out, and I don't think anyone remembered about you until Abe mentioned something, so..."

"Abe?"

She smiled a…different smile, one he hadn't seen before on her but that resembled someone else he knew, someone he saw everyday…who was it?

"Yeah, so come on. We're gonna miss the rice balls!"

Mihashi smiled and let himself be dragged to the field, glad to not have to think about it and instead being able to think about Abe. It was all he really wanted to think about lately…he heard his mom's voice coming from somewhere upstairs, slightly panicked, even as he was dragged past the front porch.

"Wait, Ren! Your bag! Don't forget your bag!"

Mihashi only closed his eyes with a wistful sigh and smiled, "Yeah, bye Mom…."

The pair left a tearful Mrs. Mihashi holding a bag standing on the front porch without her shoes, crying out worriedly, "But Ren! The camping trip! You need your bag!"

Inside, Shino'oka's fangirl laughed manically.


	9. The Camping Trip

By the time his mother's words had registered with him, Mihashi was stepping onto the field and had already seen the other boys standing there in backpacks and shorts, some of them folding up tents or checking snacks and food while others wrestled with tent poles and sleeping bags. Stopping suddenly as Shino'oka tried to tug him forward, he asked, "I…w-what did I m-miss? I-Is this a t-t-team activity I w-wasn't invited to?"

The team continued to talk and laugh as Coach Momoe broke away to drag Mihashi over.

"No, you're fine! I swore I mentioned the camping trip to you and your mother, remember Mihashi?"

The pitcher looked on the verge of sobbing, his breath coming short. He sat down on his knees in the clay, sniffling, hugging his ace shirt to his chest. Coach crouched down next to him, concerned.

"What's wrong?"

Mihashi looked up at the coach before bursting into tears and wailing, "I d-don't have a b-bag….can I still…if I d-don't go, am I…off…the t-team?"

Before the coach could reassure him that he was still vital to the team, Abe was at his side, rolling his eyes and tugging the blonde up to his feet, grumbling, "You're lucky I brought an extra sleeping bag, airhead. C'mon, get up and let's go already."

Mihashi clutched Abe's shirt with tearful eyes, still unconvinced, his own uniform top slung over his elbow. Sakaeguchi and Tajima came over and tried to cheer up the crying boy as the rest of the team nodded and showed their encouragement. Behind the rest of the team, in secret, Shino'oka was planning of getting rid of that extra as soon as possible. Suddenly, Mihashi stood bolt straight, tears forming once again.

"B-but I don't have a bag o-of clothes!"

Tajima snickered and tossed an extra pack in Mihashi's direction, which Abe caught and gave to the blonde.

"My mom packed extra of everything for me; I don't mind giving up a bag!"

The weepy pitcher sniffled and looked at Abe for approval; the catcher gave him an annoyed look and nodded yes, then tensed when Mihashi hid his face in Abe's shoulder as the team gave a sudden loud cheer. With the bag problem sorted out, everyone started to load bags into the van. The boys took trips to carry all of their bags and some of Shino'oka's and Coach's while Shino'oka packed (wink, wink) Abe's bag into the van and Coach pulled Abe to the side with a grin.

"You know you're gonna have to share a tent with him, right?"

Abe looked stricken, and then angrily shouted, "No way! Can't someone else do it?"

The coach gave him a level look, smugly pointing out, "What you would really let him sleep in Tajima's or, for that matter, anyone else's tent for three nights? You would really let someone else have him, with them, in their single tent for three nights and not be worried in the slightest?"

The catcher blushed and looked at the ground, taking his hat off and scratching the back of his neck while scuffing clay to the side with his shoe as he mumbled, "Over my dead body."

Coach Momoe laughed and ruffled the hair of the raven haired boy.

"More like over someone else's dead body, and I can't afford to lose one of you. So come along, Abe."

"Hai."

The ride over to the campsite was mostly uneventful; Tajima proudly announced that he had tamed his dragon well before the trip, and everyone split into cuffing Tajima silent or distracting the innocent Shino'oka, who only giggled and gave them a smile that mimicked Coach's and made them think maybe she wasn't so innocent.

When they arrived, the boys stepped out the van to a clearing about half the size of the diamond, surrounded by woods on all sides except for the path the car had traveled. They set out unpacking the bags and setting up tents, which took until sunset. Then Mr. Shiga had them all practice their meditation before going to cook dinner and give the guys a little free time. Tajima spoke up as soon as meditation was over.

"Let's play freeze tag!"

Mizutani and Izumi agreed wholeheartedly, and at Mihashi's small, "I've never played freeze tag with so many people before," it was decided. An epic battle ensued as someone claimed Tajima as it and the cleanup wreaked havoc, tagging people and then zigzagging through frozen statues as if they were nothing. 

Hanai was surprisingly good at the game; when he got tagged as the last one out and so the first one to start, the entire team thought he'd refuse to play and were equal parts pleasantly surprised and slightly panicked when he accepted his fate in good humor and played to the best of his abilities. The captain was good enough that even the cleanup complimented him warmly at dinner, causing the captain to blush and his voice to mumble. All the cleanup did was laugh and scoot closer while Oki and Nishihiro tried to explain something else to a distraught Mizutani.

After dinner, the entire team started to unroll sleeping bags, yawning and grumbling at the promise of a six am run in the morning. Abe's voice suddenly ran across the clearing, loud and harsh.

"Who took my extra sleeping bag? I know I had another one packed!"

Shino'oka hid behind Coach Momoe and whimpered, "I needed a bag and Coach said you had an extra and I could have it if I liked…I'm so sorry!"

She bowed deeply to the catcher who turned away in annoyance with a grumbled, "Yeah, yeah, it's fine."

Because who was he to take a sleeping bag from some poor innocent girl?

Their backs facing the team, Momoe and Shino'oka giggled together and exchanged looks as Abe got ready to face what he was sure was going to be one of the hardest and most sleepless nights of his life.


	10. The First Night

The first night might've been awkward if Mihashi wasn't weird about it; but Mihashi was awkward about everything, so things were twice as worse. The boys got ready for bed and headed into the tent, pointedly ignoring making eye contact with the other. But what got Abe? Was the way Mihashi instantly blushed a deep red when he first the saw the single sleeping bag, never mind the lack of crawl space or even the awkward tension. Sighing, Abe resolved to ignore his behavior and just sleep.

But sleeping was another matter entirely. Mihashi sat down with his legs folded under him to give Abe room to move around and fix the sleeping bag so that it would cover both of them, but when Abe got under the cover and resolutely closed his eyes, he could still feel Mihashi watching him. With a snort of irritation, Abe rolled over the face the opposite side of the tent, figuring the blonde was taking some time to spaz quietly before coming to bed, but when the next couple minutes passed and no Mihashi laid down next to him, Abe sat up in a huff.

"Mihashi, are you going to sleep or what?"

"I….um…well…"

Mihashi actually hadn't planned on sleeping. His sole mission once he had figured out he was sharing a tent with the catcher was to let Abe decide whatever he wanted to do, and not get in the way of things; he stuck by this idea with great determination. So when Abe had gotten under the covers, Mihashi had been content to let the raven have the bed, because he deserved it. He figured he'd meditate till morning, maybe curl up in a corner and sleep, and then Abe had asked him a question, giving him a choice. Seeing the sandy haired boy hesitate, Abe face palmed and grasped Mihashi's wrist tightly.

"You little ditz…get over here!"

And suddenly Mihashi found himself on his back, staring up at the tent's ceiling with a grizzled Abe lying next to him.

"A-Abe, what are you—"

Abe groaned into his pillow, the sound of his exasperation muffled. His voice when he spoke was also muffled, but the pitcher got the point clear enough.

"Shut up and go to sleep, okay?"

Abe felt the pitcher try to get comfortable next to him and was secretly glad for the way the darkness hid the blush that was surely on his face. As the pitcher settled down, he felt a full body shiver rack the blonde's slim form and, concerned, he turned and pulled up the covers, then found himself too drowsy to remove his arm after, letting it rest on Mihashi's chest. The pulse underneath his hand quickened as Mihashi whispered, "A-Abe?"

"Mmm?"

"Y-You…um…"

Abe lifted his head off his pillow and glared at Mihashi sleepily.

"Mihashi," he growled somewhat affectionately, "I could care less even if you were lying on top of me. All I need is for you to go to sleep."

Nodding, Mihashi shut his eyes tightly, making Abe chuckle as he his head back down, his breath tickling Mihashi's ear. He was mostly relaxed when all of his attention was pulled to a point of contact along his arm where, tentatively, Mihashi had placed his hand. And, well, if Abe went to sleep with a smile, no one had to know except for the night.

...

Abe blinked awake to see…dark. He gave a soft groan as he realized it was probably the middle of the night, and then wondered why he had woken up. The catcher's sleepy mind wasn't making much progress until something shifted and he realized: something was lying on his chest. 

Looking down, he saw a head full of sandy hair; Mihashi was curled up to Abe, one leg hooked around his, arms tucked close as his hands gripped Abe's nightshirt in a grip that promised never to let go, head on his shoulder. Mihashi's slow, even breaths skittered across Abe's collarbone, and the awakened boy realized with a slight start that his nightshirt had been rucked up during the night, and was around his armpits; he couldn't pull it back down without waking Mihashi. Even as he grasped this, Mihashi's arm drifted across his bare chest and crossed to his other side, effectively caging Abe in his arms.

Abe briefly wondered if this was a way of Fate getting back at him for making the remark he had made earlier to calm the other boy down, and resolved to never let himself slip like that again. The situation threatened to break all his hard won self control around this boy; he wanted to be as carefree with his touches and hugs as Mihashi was in his sleep. 

Slowly, though, he realized that if he did do something, Mihashi would assume it was done in his sleep, just as his actions were, and he wouldn't be held accountable. So, very carefully, Abe picked up a hammer and broke his own self control to pieces, just for the night, as the pitcher started to mumble unhappily in his sleep. With a blissful sigh, Abe gave in and took just one stolen moment, carding his left hand through the other boy's hair, stroking his soft hair much like a mother would to calm down her child. His right hand came up and linked with Mihashi's left as it fell across his chest, the other boy's hand warm in his as his muttering stopped. Closing his eyes, Abe let the slow fall and rise of Mihashi's chest lull him back to sleep.


	11. The Next Day

When the catcher woke up for the second time, it was to light and something wet spreading slowly across the shoulder of his shirt. Shifting slightly, he tried not to think a murderous thought towards what he was sure was a drooling Mihashi. He turned his head to find the smaller boy crying in his sleep, and tentatively reached slung an arm around the boy. In the light coming from outside, he could see Mihashi's tear streaked face, and as the boy let out an unhappy sigh he gripped the boy tight, murmuring, "Mihashi, wake up. Wake up; I'm here, you're okay, you're fine."

Mihashi woke with a soft gasp and looked up at Abe, surprise showing through the half-lid of his sleepy eyes.

"A-Abe?"

The catcher froze; he hadn't thought that Mihashi would actually wake. He was caught between wanting to admit everything and closing his eyes and pretending like he was asleep as well. Abe was saved the choice as hands started to shake the tent and loud voices and laughter called out to the pair.

"Mihashi~," shouted Hamada, still rocking the tent back and forth playfully, "wakey wakey! I don't know what you and Abe did last night but you guys don't need to sleep any longer than past sunrise!"

Abe and Mihashi sprang away from each other as the tent zipper opened slowly. Abe rushed to pull down his shirt while Mihashi sat up bleary-eyed, covers around his waist. 

Hamada's head appeared in the tent's opening, smiling hugely.

"Hey Mihashi, hey Ab— oh ho ho, what do we have here? How'd your shirt get up around your shoulders, Abe? And, Mihashi, why are you so red?"

Mihashi hid quaking underneath the covers as Abe scowled and pushed Hamada out of the way, zipping the tent up halfway as he climbed out.

"Shut up, Hamada. Mihashi is always red; he never stops blushing. And so I don't sleep soundly; congrats. Now I need food before I can deal with you this morning, so don't bother me. If I come back to my tent and you're here...you're dead."

Abe announced this over his shoulder as he walked away nonchalantly, seemingly unnoticing that his route while talking took him past everyone else's tents on the way to the campfire. He sat down to blank stares from the rest of the team, and serenely started to eat his breakfast. There was a long silence before there were more rustles that made everyone look as another tent opened to reveal Tajima and Hanai emerging from Tajima's tent. Hanai froze when he realized that everyone had turned to stare at him, until Tajima grabbed his wrist and hauled him to the campfire. Coach took one look and laughed loudly.

"Bwahaha! You little trickster, Hanai, I went to wake you so you could get everyone else and you were gone; I assumed you had gone out early, but….?"

She trailed off, leaving a half formed question in the air. Hanai colored a little as Tajima yanked him down to sit next to him, and stuttered, "W-Well, I s-spent the night in T-Tajima's tent."

Coach leaned forward with an extremely disturbing smile.

"And why was that, Captain?"

Hanai scratched the back of his neck as his eyes found their way to the ground.

"Um…well. You see…."

Tajima rolled his eyes and exclaimed around a mouthful of food, "He heard me last night and came in to help me!"

At this, all of the team recoiled, looking horrified at Tajima's bluntness, and Hanai protested weakly, hands waving.

"No, no, not like that, not like that, he was crying and I felt bad!"

Tajima beamed and slung his arms around Hanai's shoulders.

"Yeah. I don't do too well in dark places."

All of the guys exhaled a huge sigh of relief as Mihashi came up to the fire and then stopped in indecisiveness as his eyes focused on the only open seat…next to Abe. Blushing, the pitcher stood straight and stiffly grabbed his breakfast while steadfastly ignoring everyone's eyes. Once everyone was seated, Coach stood and called for attention.

"Right, guys! So today we're going to be doing trust exercises, but this is a new one we've never done before. For this exercise, everyone is in pairs. I've done the choosing for you based on who I think you need to be closer with to make our team more cohesive."

The team knew better than to groan at her announcement lest she add some other thing they dislike; instead they stayed silent, waiting for her to announce the pairings. With a nod she looked at Mr. Shiga, who stepped forward and passed out a list.

"Everyone on this list who is paired with someone you'd rather not be; this exercise is for you. There is an independent reason behind every pairing on this list, and if you'd like, I'll explain them to you."

Some hands went up around the group as the list passed by, but they were beaten out as Izumi got to his feet, shouting, "There's no way I'm doing this with Hamada! No way!"

A hand reached out and grabbed Izumi's head, and he slowly turned to find the coach behind him, red eyes flashing and hair growing.

"This is exactly what I was talking about."

Oblivious, Hamada flushed red and grabbed the list in a panic, tearing it away from the smaller brunet.

"Wha? Why do I have to be paired with this brat?"

Coach sighed and dropped Izumi, turning towards Hamada with a sigh.

"Look, this is why Mr. Shiga and I paired you two together; you need to learn how to work together better. I can't have Izumi glaring up into the stands every time you cheer for him; likewise, I can't have my center fielder injured because our cheer captain and he seem to have some issues to work out. This will give you a chance to do that."

Sighing, resigned to their fates, both of the protesting teens sat down and glumly awaited further news. Mr. Shiga stepped up and clapped his hands together brightly, exclaiming, "Today's exercise is canoeing! Paddlers will be two to a boat, and one paddle will be provided to each person. The object of this activity: to learn how to trust and better work with your assigned partner. The partners are as follows: Izumi and Hamada, Oki and Sakaeguchi, Nishihiro and Shino'oka, Mizutani and Hanai, Tajima and Suyama, and Abe and Mihashi. Remember, the purpose of this is teamwork!"

All of the teens moved to be next to their partners, and some exchanged high fives while others exchanged polite greetings. The different levels of comradeship were exactly what Mr. Shiga and Coach Momoe were banking on, and they were happy to see their plan already at work. This way, the boys got the exercise they needed while doing a team building activity that was also fun. As the boys paired up, Shino'oka came out with a towel wrapped around her, hanging from her armpits down to her ankles.

"Coach, I'm ready."

Momoe smiled at the team manager and announced, "Alright guys, suit up!"

There was pandemonium as ten boys all raced to their respective tents to put on their swim gear. Tajima was out first, beaming like a madman, and the others trickled in fast behind. Soon, the campsite was filled with the Nishiura team in various states of undress, most of them opting to go shirtless with their swim shorts. Abe and Mihashi were two of the last out, Abe coming out with a scowl and Mihashi in his trunks and an overlarge t-shirt. Sakaeguchi yelled a hello and bounded over to Mihashi, tugging on his shirt.

"Aw, Mihashi, it's so hot out today, c'mon, take it off!"

Mihashi batted away the second baseman's hands with a protest.

"No, I'm f-fine! I don't feel too hot in this, anyway."

Sakaeguchi continued to struggle with Mihashi as Hanai came up to Abe, frowning as well. They both looked each other over and quirked an eyebrow. Hanai was the first to speak.

"Did Mihashi do something stupid again?"

Abe sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"No, it's just…I have a wetshirt I wear when I go swimming but I can't find it. And that's like the third thing of mine to go missing on this trip. It can't be any good."

Hanai crossed his arms over his bare chest and leaned against a tree.

"I know what you mean; I usually wear a surf shirt but I can't find it anywhere. I'm starting to think all of my stuff has been sabotaged."

Abe looked at him quizzically, leaning in a little closer as they partially paid attention to Tajima, Mihashi and Sakaeguchi have a sunscreen fight. The catcher was too preoccupied to notice Mihashi stop in his tracks and just stare at the tanned catcher's bare torso as Abe moved into the sunlight, or see him receive a shirtful of sunscreen as Tajima's hand disappeared down the neck of his shirt.

"You mean…you think it's all gone missing on purpose? Why? What are you missing?"

Hanai sighed and looked away, rubbing the back of his neck.

"It's nothing really, but…I have this bear I sleep with, because it's…it's…a gift from my mother…And I couldn't find it. Anywhere. I had looked all over my tent and in the van and everything. So I figured one of the guys had taken it, and, come on, who else but Tajima pulls that with me? So last night I went to ask him and he was curled up with it like it was his. I woke him up and he said Shino'oka had handed it to him."

Abe nodded thoughtfully, scratching his head.

"Hmph. Well, you know what happened with my extra sleeping bag…tell me, did any of the other things you've been missing turn up with Tajima?"

Still thinking it out, Hanai said slowly, "Yeah, actually. All of it has. Either with him or with Shino'oka."

"Exactly. And all of my stuff is stuff that I would really hate to lose with Mihashi around…do you see a pattern? I do. Shino'oka usually has all my stuff. And now Coach has paired us up with the both of them again."

Hanai shut his eyes and massaged his temples, and turned to look quickly at the coach and the manager giggling and whispering like two little girls with a secret. Facing Abe again with a grim look, he muttered, "They're trying to set us up, Takaya."

Blushing, Abe looked down at the ground, mumbling, "Yeah, well, I'm not so sure I mind it so much…"

Laughing, Hanai clapped Abe on the shoulder and went to go pick out a canoe, not even skipping a beat when he realized the baggy surf shirt on the cleanup hitter was his. Abe walked over to Mihashi, who was now bare-chested and smeared all over with creamy sunscreen, way too much for any one person.

"What happened to you?"

Mihashi only looked at him with wide eyes and stammered an indecipherable, "N-N-N-Nothing…"


	12. Canoeing is Hard Work

They came back to the camp sopping wet, sweaty, exhausted, and exhilarated, whooping with laughter and bouncing on adrenaline. Through the trees on the way back, Tajima and Hanai raced just for the fun of it while the rest picked their way through the woody land. Coach Momoe watched carefully as someone slipped and their partner caught them, and hid a smile. This exercise had turned out even better than they had hoped. The partnerships connected all of their team on a different level, and she just knew that her team was going to be stronger for it. Suddenly, everyone turned to look at the two in the back as a loud crash rang through the forest and Izumi suddenly disappeared.

"Ah...ah…ow!"

All eyes in the group landed on Izumi; he was sitting on the ground, crying and holding his ankle. Hamada had kneeled down next to him and was gingerly trying to move it. The brunet pushed his hands away and then buried his face in his own hands, trying not to sob.

"It hurts, Hamada, it hurts when you touch it!"

Obviously panicked, Hamada looked like he didn't know what to do with his hands; they were hovering everywhere, at Izumi's shoulder to comfort him, at his ankle to check it, at the other boy's hands and face to wipe away tears. Coach made her way over as the rest of the team came back to see what was wrong.

"Izumi, what happened?"

Still hiccupping, Izumi couldn't manage to speak and so Hamada did, his voice higher than natural.

"There was a tree root; he tripped over it and fell, but when he did, another branch fell, and…it landed on his ankle, I think, but I don't know, and he's hurt really badly, he won't let me touch it, he…it…I…"

Coach touched Hamada's shoulder and calmed him down, while Mr. Shiga checked over Izumi's ankle and announced it sprained, then wrapped it quickly and tightly, producing gauze from nowhere. Izumi looked up tearfully and thanked him, then moved to stand; in an instant, Hamada was there pushing him back down with vehemence. Gazing up, Izumi saw the blonde livid with frustration.

"No. No way in hell you get to stand up after that, not when Mr. Shiga just told you might have a fracture."

Izumi scowled through tears and with a roll of his eyes, moved to get up. Immediately, he was pushed back down with equal vehemence, and Hamada was suddenly right there in his face.

"I told you. You. Can't. Stand. Don't even think about it."

Izumi glared and pushed him away, sending him sprawling on the forest floor.

"So how exactly am I going to walk, moron?"

Hamada leaned his head to one side as if analyzing the situation, then stood and dusted himself off, holding out a hand to Izumi.

"Right then. You won't. I'll carry you."

Izumi lay down in the leaves, an arm slung over his eyes.

"God help me, he's lost it. No way in hell I'm getting on your back, Hamada."

Hamada leaned in close again, kneeling, and grabbed Izumi's shirt, bringing him up face to face. Izumi gave him a look of disbelief, trying to pry his hands off. The blonde's grip only tightened, and he gave a little tug so Izumi met his eyes again. Speaking barely above a whisper but pouring all of his panic into his anger, he told him, "Trust me brat, you don't want to test me. Now you either get on my back with some dignity left or I swear to God I will carry you bridal style all the way to camp and tuck you in at your tent. Choose an option, runt."

Izumi's eyes went wide and for a long moment, there was silence as everyone else held their breath. Then with a sigh, Izumi hung his head in defeat and nodded, once.

"Yeah, I'll ride on your back."

Hamada nodded briskly and stood, holding out a hand to the center once more.

"That's what I thought. Come on now, up you get."

Izumi tentatively put his hand in Hamada's, who yanked him up with enough force to send him into his arms, their noses inches apart. Passing him off to Coach, he then turned and bent his knees, glancing over his shoulder and saying, "Well, you coming?"

Izumi nodded and slung his arms around Hamada's neck, then clung on for dear life when the older boy straightened and grabbed his legs. Izumi had never realized how tall, exactly, Hamada was until Hamada picked him up; likewise, he had never really noticed how short he was until that moment. A little nervous being so high off the ground, Izumi pressed closer and missed Hamada's grin at the gesture.

With Izumi safely in Hamada's grip, the team continued on their way back to the campsite through the forest, excited for dinner that night. They entered the clearing boisterously, joking around and singing silly songs. Izumi was yelling hotly at Tajima's teasing from Hamada's back as the blonde snickered; Hanai and Sakaeguchi were pretending to march through the woods, with Oki, Suyama and Nishihiro marching in time, singing a marching song; Mizutani and Abe were racing; and Mihashi and Shino'oka were walking together in the rear, the pitcher completely oblivious to Abe's glances back every five minutes.

When they all had entered the campsite and were winding down, Coach cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled, "Get ready for dinner!", sending all the boys into a mad scramble as they rushed around to prepare.

Dinner that night was fish that everyone had helped clean and cook, and it tasted good, considering it was done by amateurs. Mr. Shiga had caught them in the river while the boys had gone canoeing, and there was more than enough to feed all of the team. If anyone saw Hamada and Izumi sitting closely while Hamada tried to feed Izumi, no one said a word.

Fully fed and sleepy as the adrenaline high started to take a nosedive, the guys slowly dwindled away in twos and threes back to the tents to get ready for bed. At Abe's tent, the catcher went in, grabbed his clothes and changed rather quickly for being so tired, intent on catching Mihashi before he go to bed. He was surprised to find Mihashi already in the tent when he came back.

"...Mihashi?"

The boy yelped and looked at Abe, startled, in the process of getting under the cover.

"Y-Yes?"

Abe looked down at the sleeping bag and said softly, "Do we....hm. Are you okay?"

Mihashi's color grew ever more similar to a tomato as he pulled the covers up close to his chin, and shook his head yes vigorously.

"N-No, I'm f-fine. G…G…G-Good night, Abe-kun!"

With that, the pitcher disappeared under the blanket. With a sigh, Abe laid down next to Mihashi, turned his back towards him, and pulled the covers up to his shoulders, murmuring, "Good night, Mihashi."

In the night, Mihashi sighed and wished Abe was wrapped around him again.


	13. The Second Day

Abe woke up to feel nothing.

There was no one by his side as he woke that morning, and as he realized this he tamped down the urge to feel sorry for himself with a heavy sigh. He wished that…

"G-G-Good m-morning, A-Abe-kun."

Abe rubbed at his eyes and watched as Mihashi pulled the tent zipper down and stepped inside carefully, carrying something.

"What's that, Ren?"

Horrified, Abe could tell he was obviously still asleep. This was exactly his dream last night; he'd called Mihashi his first name and the boy had blushed and told him he liked it. But…if he were so asleep, why was everything else so awake? 

The catcher had a minor freak out before looking to Mihashi. Except for a slight tensing, Mihashi seemed to be ignoring the slip-up, so Abe would just thank his lucky stars that he hadn't freaked the other boy out. He watched as the pitcher carefully set out a plate of food, with fish from last night, and handed him a juice bottle. Mihashi's hands only shook marginally as he wiped them on his shorts.

"H-Here, I w-woke up early so I figured m-maybe I'd…um…get us breakfast, but Tajima wanted me to sit and eat with him, so I ate already. B-But I brought yours, j-just in c-case."  
Abe looked from the food back to the pitcher and smiled softly. Mihashi jumped, spooked, and looked anywhere but at him, his blush magnifying to a deep red. Abe chuckled and began to eat. Mihashi wore that color around him so much he seemed to have a special blush just for him. 

Wanting to see how the boy would react, Abe swallowed and said, "Thanks, Ren."

On cue Mihashi's blush spread from his cheeks to his whole face, including lighting up his ears, which just looked adorable. But he did something that surprised Abe; with his fists bunched tight in his shorts, he closed his eyes and said hurriedly, "Y-You're welcome, Takaya."

And Abe hadn't ever known how wonderful his name could sound until Mihashi said it.

When the two began to emerge from their tent, everyone else who was awake scrambled away, trying their hardest not to look as if they'd been listening, or as if they were watching Abe help Mihashi out of the tent with gentle looks and gentle hands. The pair sat down at the fire, next to Hanai and Tajima, who were currently playing a game of keep away. Coach walked into the clearing with a huge smile, and gathered everyone together, calling for attention.

"Our team building exercise today is partly about everyone else and partly about you individually."

She paused and looked at the group meaningfully. Looking at each other, she could hear them wonder what they'd possibly be doing, whispering to each other and trying to figure it out among themselves.

"Listen up. Today we'll be going…hiking!"

A chorus of "oh's" came from the boys, and the reactions branched. Some, like crazy Tajima, were beaming with huge smiles, while others sulked and frowned, like Nishihiro. Others were too wrapped up in each other to notice anything else, really; Izumi and Hamada were having a quiet argument full of one touch that no one else could decipher, and Abe was sitting on the log behind Mihashi who was sitting on the ground, and Mihashi's head lay against his catcher's knee. They both sat still and pretended to pay attention as the slight contact sent thrills through both of them.

Coach shook her head and smiled, telling them, "Obviously, there are some who can't go on this trip, but I wouldn't worry too much about that. Instead we should worry about who's staying behind to help Izumi; he can't really move around much on his own, as you can see."

No one raised a hand; they could see where she was going with this. Hamada stood and raised his hand.

"I'd like to do it. Since I'm not a player, I can't see how this exercise would benefit me anyway, so…"

Coach nodded, grinning, "It's just what I'd expect from our cheer captain; if anyone can keep him happy while you two are here all alone with no one else around, you can."

Hamada turned red and immediately ducked his head, looking away from everyone and mumbling, "Thanks, Coach."

Everyone else snickered as Coach continued, warning them to be careful and stay away from poison ivy, and watch for animals and other potentially harmful things in the woods while they were walking. Mr. Shiga then went over what to wear and how much water and food to carry, then gave each boy a small plastic megaphones, explaining that they shouldn't get lost very far if they did manage to wander, and instructed them to call through the megaphone so that they could be heard. Coach dismissed everyone to give them a couple of minutes to get ready, and they all dispersed, going to separate tents to change.

It didn't take long for the whole team to change into light wear cargo pants and sneakers, and then the boys busied themselves packing their bags with extra water bottles and snacks. All around the camp the boys were busy; some were searching for hats, others had lost megaphones, and some of them were waiting by the fire site with their bags packed and ready to go. Somewhere near his tent, Mihashi was crying.

"Ah…ah…sting, stings…ow…"

Mihashi rubbed furiously at his eyes and groped blindly for his water bottle on the ground next to him, stopping when a hand turned his chin upwards and he heard a soft, "Let me see."

Abe tilted Mihashi's head left and right as Mihashi fumbled to get to the water bottle. Seeing this, Abe grabbed it just as Mihashi's fingers brushed it and instructed him to close his eyes. Mihashi did and felt Abe pour the water over his eyes, rinsing them out; Abe stopped after a few seconds and swiped his thumbs underneath both eyes, grinning.

"That should do it."

Mihashi blushed and mumbled, "Thanks."

Hanai, over by the fire, chuckled at the battery and turned to resume packing, stopping to peer at a tube of ointment he unearthed from his traveling bag, picking up his glasses and squinting at it.

"What's this medicine my mother packed?"

Shino'oka, walking by carrying her own rather heavy pack, stopped and looked over Hanai's shoulder.

"That looks like poison ivy medicine! I would pack that, if I were you; it might come in handy."

The girl then shifted her pack and walked away, humming happily. Hanai shrugged and stuffed it in his backpack. She was right; it might come in handy.


	14. Hiking's Hard Work, Too

Mr. Shiga was right; they were all bound to wander off, but they didn't stray very far. A couple of times people called with the megaphones, but they were found quickly and easily. Mostly, it was just fun, if you ignored the hard work of climbing up the hill; some of them raced through the trees, some of them walked a little slower than usual and watched the team and the scenery.

Hanai had somehow managed to fall behind by just a little. He was currently on his way towards the battery, mostly because they were the only ones he could see, but also because he could hear the Coach's voice. He was behind because he had stopped to retrieve his lost bandana, but it had landed in a huge leafy plant that looked suspiciously like poison ivy, and he had decided maybe he didn't need it so much anymore. He was almost caught up when he heard Tajima's voice behind him through the megaphone.

"Hay, Hanai, if you're around here, I think I see your bandana! I'm gonna grab it for you!"

Hanai froze,then turned around quickly and started running, shouting, "No, Tajima, it's—"

"Oh, hey, Hanai, look! I—oof!"

Hanai came up to Tajima sprawled on the ground face down, his arms and legs clear and untouching of the huge plant, but his shirt had pulled up and his stomach was right in…

"Tajima," Hanai said carefully, "I think that's poison ivy."

The smaller boy swallowed hard and nodded. Carefully, Tajima got up while avoiding the plant, and sat back on his knees, his legs folded under him as he stripped off his shirt gingerly. Hanai gasped and fell to his knees next to him, taking off his pack.

"Tajima…"

Hanai's hands slowly traced an angry long cut from the top of Tajima's ribcage to his hip, pulling away when the smaller boy winced. The captain looked up to meet misty eyes that blinked away tears and crinkled in a smile, one of the dazzling ones that said Tajima was fighting off pain.

"It..heh…kinda hurts."

Hanai nodded slowly, his fingertips hovering over the cut.

"I can see that."

Hanai pulled his hands away to reach for his pack only to see the stain of blood on them; he glanced at Tajima's stomach, and sure enough, blood was welling up all along the cut, shallow but deep enough to bleed quite a bit. Tajima touched the blood and turned around to grab his pack for his first aid kit, only to stop with a wince.

"Can you grab my first aid kit?"

Hanai was still, looking at his hands in disbelief. He hadn't even heard the cleanup. Tajima tried again, calling, "Hanai, can you—"

The darker haired boy stopped as Hanai pinned him with a devastating look.

"What did you ask me?"

Tajima swallowed at his intensity and said meekly, "First aid kit?"

Hanai nodded and grabbed his own backpack, detaching the first aid kit and getting out the disinfectant. He warned Tajima about the sting before swabbing down the entire cut carefully two or three times, stopping when Tajima flinched. At a sudden thought, Hanai took out his poison ivy cream and put that on the cut, too. Tajima looked down at the new tube and laughed when he realized what it was.

"You always have everything I need, Hanai."

Hanai blushed and finished applying the cream and disinfectant, his hands smoothing out the last of it and missing Tajima's slight shudder. But here's where it got tricky; how to put on the bandage? Tajima couldn't do it himself, of course, because the movement of his arms would make the cut bleed even more than it was now, and that was quite enough of that already. No, it would seem Hanai would have to it for him. 

Steeling himself, Hanai took out his gauze and tried not to think about how close Tajima was to him, wrapping the gauze tightly around the other boy's abdomen. It was fine at his hips, but when Hanai went higher and higher Tajima's arms began to get in the way; as if he could read his captain's mind, Tajima slowly and painstakingly brought his arms up to rest on Hanai's shoulders, his hands clasped behind Hanai's neck.

"Is this…okay?"

Hanai looked up with eyes that were far away and nodded dazedly, focusing on the motion of his own hands going across the boys' abdomen, behind his back, pass off, and then back around the front. If he just focused, he could…he wrapped the gauze just a bit too tight and Tajima's hands tightened at the back of his neck, his hands clenching. Hanai tried to remember to breathe and then realize that while he was near the top of the cut, he was running out of gauze. Tucking in the stray end, he looked up at Tajima and asked softly, "You said you had gauze in your bag?"

Tajima nodded and the captain went to reach for the bag, only to stop short. Glancing at Tajima's arms around his shoulders, he sat back and contemplated how best to get the bag closer to him, then reached out with one of his feet and dragged it over, crossing his legs Indian style once it was close enough. Carefully, trying not to disturb the cleanup's position, he got out the gauze and finished wrapping the cut, stopping with a smile at Tajima.

"There."

He was unconscious of the fact that his hands were still smoothing over the bandage with flat palms, and completely unaware of Tajima's reactions; Tajima, at the feel of Hanai's hands, ducked his head and shut his eyes tightly.

"Hanai, I think I'm okay now."

Hanai nodded in a trance, idly watching his fingers trace patterns on the gauze. Tajima shuddered and then grabbed both of Hanai's wrists, holding them in the space between them. Looking up at Hanai, Tajima whispered, "You keep doing things like this, but you push me away. What are we doing, Hanai?"

The captain tore his gaze away from the expanse of white and looked at Tajima, who was looking at him with a hopelessly confused look. Hanai's gaze flickered between Tajima's eyes and their hands, where Tajima was sliding up his palms to meet Hanai's, intertwining their fingers, and then he turned away, breaking from the smaller boy's grasp.  
"Catching up. Come on, everyone else must have reached the top by now."

..  
..

The walk to the rest of the team was silent, and not Tajima and Hanai rejoined the group at the top, and immediately went over to Coach to have her check them out. She looked over Tajima's bandaging, pronounced it clean and efficient, and then sent Tajima over to Mr. Shiga to be looked at. As Tajima walked away, Coach turned to Hanai with concern.

"Okay, what's up with you guys? You look like someone read your diary in front of the entire school and Tajima hasn't done something random or loud in straight _minutes._ What's going on?"

Hanai's flush raged across his cheeks once again, but he kept his head up and looked straight at the Coach.

"Well, Tajima was trying to get my bandana for me, and he fell, and he was cut up in the process…he couldn't exactly move enough to do it, so I wrapped the wound for him."

"Because it was on his stomach, right?"

Hanai flushed deeper but remained steadfast and kept eye contact, refusing to acknowledge his embarrassment.

"Exactly. Because of the…placement of his cut, I think wrapping it up was weird for both of us; being aware of this, I'd ask that you not tell the team what happened here."

Because if they knew how he had freaked out, then they'd all know for sure, and he didn't even know for sure yet. He didn't know anything yet.

The coach nodded with reluctant acceptance, and watching Tajima joke and laughed with the other guys, told Hanai, "I won't tell them, but I want you to know this…weirdness is not going to affect my practice plans. Do we have an understanding, Captain?"

Hanai nodded and walked away, heading past the boys and towards a quiet spot by himself. Coach watched his retreating figure and massaged her temples; if even admitting that was so hard for the tall boy, she personally thought that Tajima had quite the long wait.


	15. No Wonder Mihashi's Got His Signals Mixed; He's Only Been Reading Them for a Year

Coach and Mr. Shiga led the way back to the camp with the team of guys trailing behind, talking and laughing. Suddenly, they all stopped short as Coach halted abruptly, turning to them with a loud "sssshhh!" They all peered around her to see Izumi and Hamada asleep by the fire, Izumi's brunet hair spread across the cheer captain's shoulder as he slumbered. 

Tiptoeing past them, all of the team headed for their tents while Coach and Shino'oka took pictures of the sleeping pair, putting them with the most recent pictures of the battery's sunscreen incident and Hanai and Tajima's bandage situation. Then, Coach went over and woke up Hamada, who nodded blearily to her instructions to carry Izumi to his tent and moved the small boy carefully into his arms. Izumi shifted a little in Hamada's arms, hands bunching in the blonde's shirt, but otherwise stayed deep in sleep as Hamada walked slowly and cautiously over to the injured centerfielder's tent.

Dinner was short but good; a vegetable stew that Mr. Shiga had made for them with some thick bread had not appealed to too many of them when announced but was good when they tried it. Most of them found they were hungrier than they had thought, and grabbed seconds, and in Tajima's case, thirds. Mihashi was one of the first to finish, and he quickly dismissed himself to his tent to change into his night clothes; Abe was also done fairly fast and went to the tent to snatch his water bottle, completely planning on coming back to the fire. 

However, when he ducked in to the tent, he froze half in and half out, mouth clamped as his eyes widened slightly. Mihashi was in the process of changing shirts, his nightshirt in his lap as he pulled off his other, folding it. Said pitcher halted in his folding motions, and looked up surprised at Abe, wanting to break eye contact but not being able to.

Abe wanted to move, he really did, but it was like his mind was saying one thing and his vision was saying another, and his eyes were the ones controlling his body; they liked what they saw, and so he stayed put, paralyzed. He briefly wondered if his eyes roaming Mihashi's bare chest were making him uncomfortable, and even as he had the thought, Mihashi turned away with tearing eyes and blushed everywhere, going from his face down his chest. Abe watched, fascinated.

"A-Abe?"

Shocked back to reality, Abe shook his head and closed his eyes, bowing out of the tent hurriedly and saying, "Sorry, I'm sorry, I apologize…"

"Sorry for what?"

Abe spun to find Tajima standing behind him, looking at him quizzically. Trying hard not to stammer or blush (he did nothing wrong, absolutely nothing, he had no reason to be embarrassed), he told him, "It's nothing, Mihashi's just changing and I…I, uh..I walked in, but it's nothing."

Tajima grinned that grin at him and leaned against a nearby tree.

"You so sure? You're awful flushed, Abe, and besides; you see all of us change every day. What's the big deal?"

"No big deal, Tajima, leave it alone."

Tajima pretended to think about it and then exclaimed, "I know what it is! It's just Mihashi, isn't it?"

"No, that's not—"

Tajima was walking away by the time Abe processed it enough to protest, and he threw a chuckle over his shoulder, shouting, "Of course it's not, man, of course not!"

Abe sighed and turned back to the tent in exasperation, announcing loudly that he was coming in before even touching the zipper. The catcher completely missed Tajima hide behind a tent and wait for him to enter his tent; once he was inside, Tajima gave a loud whoop and ran through the rest of the camp, shouting for them to get a move on or they'd miss the good part.

Inside the tent, Mihashi felt his tears spill over and wiped them away, trying not to hiccup. He didn't know what to do with himself; he knew that Abe's abrupt departure was his fault, somehow. He should've let Abe know he was changing, or changed faster; at any rate, the way Abe had stared and stared at him obviously meant he didn't like seeing Mihashi like that, that he didn't see Mihashi like that, and that made Mihashi ache in so many ways he couldn't even begin to count them all, because, oh, how he had wished and wished for Abe to like him, even though he had convinced himself friendship was enough. As Mihashi heard the tent unzip, he curled tighter into himself, his arms wrapped around his shins and his face buried in his knees, sobbing, "I'm sorry, Abe, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!"

Abe paused in entering the tent, confused.

"What are you talking about? You don't have to apologize."

Mihashi sniffled as the catcher sat down fully in the tent and zipped it back up again, turning to Mihashi and moving closer.

"Abe, I'm sorry…I didn't mean…I never wanted you to…"

Mihashi was sobbing brokenly, clearly upset by something, but Abe couldn't figure out what it was; he ran over the problem in his mind, and every way he could see, he was the on in the wrong, not Mihashi. Firmly, he told him, "Mihashi, you have nothing to apologize for. Nothing."

Mihashi wailed and buried his face in his knees even more, if that possible, crying, "You didn't see the look on your face!"

Abe looked at Mihashi in disbelief, and whispered, "What?"

Outside, people jostled around others and tried to press closer, complaining about not being able to hear. But inside the tent, Abe was sitting there in irritation, because Mihashi's thought pattern was becoming clearer to him. It was all the catcher could do not to face palm as he figured out that Mihashi thought he had scared Abe away by changing in front of him; that the pitcher thought Abe was so uncomfortable that he even left, in a hurry. Sighing, the catcher murmured, "Mihashi, you idiot."

With an annoyed growl, Abe pulled at Mihashi's hands so that he fell forward onto his knees, sharing Abe's space. Still, Mihashi was crying profusely, his eyes shut tight. Abe grasped his hands and asked him, "Mihashi, look at me."

The pitcher hung his head lower and Abe felt tears begin to dot their joined hands; with a scowl, Abe added a harsh edge to his voice and made it an order.

"Mihashi, look at me!"

The sandy head raised a fraction of an inch but didn't budge. With a sigh, Abe bent forward so their foreheads touched, his own eyes shut tight, and pleaded, "Please look at me, Ren."

Mihashi looked up, startled at the use of his name.

"Abe?"

The catcher opened his eyes and felt Mihashi suck in a breath, dizzyingly close as the soft skin of their noses brushed. Holding his gaze, Abe murmured, "Call me Takaya."

And then Abe was leaning in, tugging Mihashi closer and simultaneously off balance, so that Mihashi's hands rested against his shoulders, and the catcher felt like he was drowning and if it was indeed drowning, he never wanted air again. He fervently hoped the other boy felt something as good as he did when their lips pressed softly against each other, because this!

It was more wonderful than winning a tournament, better than spending a summer's day with his friends, nicer than playing catch with Mihashi, more right than standing there watching Mihashi when he could be…touching…Abe struggled to keep himself in check, breathing hard. His hands itched to hike up Mihashi's shirt and explore, but he had to keep in mind that he couldn't scare the pitcher off; instead, he settled for resting his hands lightly on Mihashi's waist, just under the hemline of his shirt, his thumbs touching bare skin. And it was more than enough. Just that simple touch threatened to devour Abe in the flames it produced, and Abe couldn't help himself as his lips parted in a silent plea for more from his pitcher.

Mihashi didn't know what to think at the moment; he had been confused from when Abe had first come back into the tent. He had tried apologizing, but Abe was having none of it, and even went so far as to apologize himself. But the pitcher couldn't figure out for the life of him why Abe should apologize; he had nothing to be sorry for. After all, Mihashi was the one who had been taking his shirt off and had not had the consideration announce he was changing so Abe didn't feel uncomfortable.

And yet…here was Abe, apologizing over and over, and even as Mihashi tried to explain the boy was calling him an idiot and tugging him forward. Mihashi gave a gasp and tried to stop the tears from falling from the tip of his nose and down his cheeks as Abe grasped his hands tightly (making sure he faced his consequences, making sure he doesn't run), but when Abe had called his name, asked for him to look at him, ordered the pitcher to look at him, Mihashi could only sit there and cry harder. And when Abe had called out his name with such care and touched his cheek so softly that Mihashi was perhaps the most surprised he had ever been, because this was definitely not what he had been expecting.

When their lips touched, Mihashi felt the burn flare to life all over and groaned softly at the feeling, shivering as Abe pressed his lips softly against his. The sandy haired pitcher didn't know what to do with these new feelings he had; all of the sudden the burn was a great roaring flame in his chest and stomach, and it was also some kind of chanting call that demanded that Abe touched him more, kissed him more, and even though Mihashi had no experience with it, instinct told him to move closer to the catcher. He moved and felt Abe's thumbs slide along his shirt's hemline, and well! That felt much better than it should, and Mihashi's hands tightened in the messy black hair as their lips parted. The pair broke for air and Abe leaned his forehead against Mihashi's, both of them breathing heavily.

"Mihashi. What am I going to do with you?"

Mihashi smiled happily, his eyes still closed, and whispered, "Stay by my side," and then immediately tensed, still unsure if this kind of affection was completely welcomeed. Abe grabbed Mihashi close in a tight hug, resting his cheek on the blonde's hair. Mihashi tentatively put his arms around the catcher and flushed deeper as Abe said, "Of course."

Outside, the entire team was celebrating; some of them were more embarrassed but still happy for them, like Hanai and Oki, while others beamed and danced around, laughing, like Tajima and Sakeguchi. Coming up to all the noise, Coach asked in a stage whisper, "What's going on?"

Everyone except the two proudly beaming fielders jumped a foot in the air; Tajima and Sakaeguchi only high fived and whispered back, "We did it!"

She nodded with a smiled, giving them a thumbs up.

"Excellent. Now, let's all get to sleep; we've got to go in the morning.


	16. In the Light of the Morning

Mihashi woke up to Abe gently shaking him and running his fingers through the blonde hair; he yawned and moved to get up, only to find his arms locked around Abe's torso.

"Wake up Mihashi, there's something going on at Tajima's tent."

The pitcher nodded dazedly and allowed himself to be led out into the bright sunlight over to Tajima's tent, where the cleanup with currently itching frantically, rolling out of his tent.

"It itches…so bad…have…to…scratch!"

Desperately, Tajima tore off his shirt amidst protests, which stopped immediately after seeing the white expanse of bandage that covered his torso. In a panic, Tajima began to rip these off in tatters, the sound of ripping barely heard as everyone gasped at the cut revealed. Once the bandage was off, Tajima began to claw at his skin.

"Make the itching stop! Make…it…stop…."

Coach and Abe grabbed Tajima's forearms, underneath his wrists, making sure not to touch his hands. Tajima struggled fiercely in their grip, his legs kicking furiously. Unable to itch, he began to wail.

"It burns! Let go!"

Hanai came running up, itching his hands and wrists. No one noticed him; all of them were too busy trying to soothe Tajima.

"What's going on? I came as soon as I woke up… what's wrong with Tajima?"

Oki looked back at Hanai, getting to reply with something about poison ivy, but stopped; he looked from Tajima to Hanai and back again, and then snickered, "Whatever's wrong with you."

Confused, Hanai looked at his wrists, which were sporting the same exact rash as Tajima's stomach, and maybe two and two weren't so hard to put together for all that he had asked Coach not to tell anyone, because Abe and Sakaeguchi and Oki and Mizutani were snickering, and Suyama and Hamada were blushing and looking anywhere but at him, and Izumi and Shino'oka were just outright laughing. Mihashi only looked on sympathetically, mirroring the look Nishihiro was giving him. Tajima was pinning him with this knowing look that had Hanai thinking the boy knew much more than he could know, and Coach was shooting him this smirk that said, _see, I told you I wouldn't have to tell them._

Hanai blushed as Sakaeguchi came over and leaned on his shoulder with one arm.

"So, uh, what were you two doing yesterday that you have poison ivy on your hands and he has it all over his stomach?"

Hotly, Hanai replied, "Look, see that cut on his stomach? He can't exactly wrap it himself; I found him so I wrapped it."

Abe chuckled and asked, "So, yesterday, Hanai, your hands were all over Tajima," here he paused and gestured to Tajima's stomach, "here?"

Hanai swallowed hard and nodded, fighting his body's natural response to turn blush copiously. Tajima laughed out loud as he remembered something, and exclaimed (still fidgeting), "And you should have seen him. I guess the blood freaked him out or something, because he was in a trance."

"Now, wait just a minute, I was completely fi—"

"No you weren't, Hanai, you were so out of it I had to call your name to get your atten—"

"Only because it was you!"

Everyone's laughter halted at Hanai's sudden outburst. Sighing, Hanai continued with a pained expression, his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I have a thing about my friends getting hurt, okay? I don't like it much, so I don't deal very well."

"Friends?"

Hanai looked sharply at a hopeful Tajima and scowled, "Yes. Friends. "

Coach cleared her throat and interjected as Hanai looked away angrily and Tajima visibly deflated.

"Hanai, you still have that poison ivy cream, right? Grab it for me."

"Hai."

As Hanai turned and ran off quickly, Tajima sank to his knees and sighed sadly, "I…I'll never get him to…"

Coach ruffled his hair and bent down on one knee, talking to him in a low, soothing voice as his eyes threatened to fill with tears. Abe could only look over at a slightly pink Mihashi and be grateful that his relationship was sorted; Mihashi saw him looking and blushed harder, his ears lighting up pink, but his look was also the same. Shino'oka didn't miss this, and covertly snapped a picture of them and added it to the collection as Mr. Shiga came back with Hanai and announced breakfast for those who didn't need treatment.  
After breakfast was packing up; most of the boys had almost all their stuff packed, and the only things left to go were tents and sleeping bags. 

Soon, the camp was bustling as the boys made multiple trips back and forth to van to load up bags. Tajima managed to carry his bags without a problem; after all, his wound had been rebandaged. But putting them in the van was another challenge. Tajima was already kind of short, so when he opened the van's back and saw that a couple of the bags were stacked and he'd have to reach up high to get his bag in, he knew he was probably going to need another wrapping.

Steeling himself, Tajima stretched up high to place his bag, expecting any moment to feel that familiar rip and tear as his newly scabbed over cut came apart; but out of nowhere, bandaged hands lingered over his and then placed the bag in for him. Turning his head slightly, Tajima saw Hanai and quickly turned full front again, not ready to face him after what had happened. Hanai only laid his hands on the smaller boy's shoulders and leaned his forehead to the back of Tajima's head, breathing deeply as if trying to build up courage.

The cleanup waited as patient as he could for Hanai to do something (dare he hope for a hug, or even...), to say something, perhaps an apology, but when nothing was forthcoming, he pushed Hanai away with a despondent, "Thanks." He stalked off so quickly, he missed Hanai's grab for his wrist and the wild look in his eyes as he held out a hand towards a retreating Tajima, wanting to say something but not being able to.

The entire ride home was with a silent Tajima, and Hanai knew that the sun had disappeared from the cleanup's smile because of him, and just knowing that made Hanai want to cry; there was something very wrong with a world in which Tajima did not smile, laugh, or joke constantly. Very, very wrong. And knowing that was because of him that such a world existed? The captain was sure if you looked up self-hatred in the dictionary, it would give his biography.

...  
...

Mihashi came through the doors smiling, leading Abe in by the hand.

"Mom, I'm home!"

Mrs. Mihashi came running down the stairs, arms outstretched for a hug. She grabbed up her son and hugged him tightly, making him scramble for his hat, then let him go and started to gush.

"Oh, Ren, I'm so glad you're home, I missed you so much! It was so quiet without you here and I had to invite the other team moms over to have someone to talk to, and I can't believe how much you've grown in two or three days, I mean, look at you! And so tan too, tell me, did you have fun? What did you do? Did you hurt yourself? Lose anyone in the woods? H—"

Mihashi chuckled nervously and tugged Abe a little closer, bring his mom's attention to their hands.

"Actually, mom, I wanted to tell you that, um… Abe and I….A-Abe and I, we…um.."

Abe snorted and then clapped a hand over his mouth, looking at his mother with a dazzling and what he hoped was a charming smile.

"Your son and I have decided we'd like to be in a relationship, if that's okay with you, ma'am."

She considered this for a minute, and then looked at Mihashi, asking him, "And you're okay? Nobody is forcing you, no one is telling you have to?"

Mihashi nodded and hugged Abe's arm, resting his head on the taller boy's shoulder.

"We just want to be together."

Mrs. Mihashi nodded and then looked at Abe gravely.

"You have to be with him, always. If you hurt him, I'll let Coach have you, and I won't know anything about it, understand me?"

Abe blanched, nodded, and offered up a more timid, "Yes, ma'am."

She smiled at the how cute the pair was and dismissed them; as they ran up the stairs, she shouted after them, "Keep the door open! Nothing funny in there!"

A "Yes, mom," drifted down the stairs, and Mrs. Mihashi shook her head in amusement while she went to go make tea and call up Mrs. Abe; after all, she figured that her son's boyfriend's mother would probably like to know. Upstairs, Abe let go of Mihashi's hand to hug him fiercely; Mihashi grinned when Abe pulled away and kissed him soft and hesitantly. 

Abe laughed softly at the blonde's cautiousness and ruffled his hair. Turning, the catcher set down his and Mihashi's bags, and when he turned back the pitcher was sound asleep on the covers. Abe stretched out next to him with a grin of his own and laid down, their foreheads touching and the messy raven hair mixing with the blonde.  
Mrs. Mihashi came back upstairs a couple minutes later to find them still like that, their foreheads touching, Mihashi's hands on Abe's chest and Abe's arms around her son's waist. She had half a mind to wake them up and separate them, but instead she took a picture and sent it to the Coach.

She figured it was only nice, considering the pictures Coach had been sending her and the other moms the past few days.


End file.
